MOVING FORWARD: THE NEED FOR CHANGE!
Peter #76
DO 1/95
By Peter A.
1. One of Dad's hallmark characteristics and one of the reasons for the Family's success was his willingness to change. Dad was constantly seeking ways to improve things, and would change almost anything if it would make things better for others. This especially held true when there were areas of improvement needed in the Family. When he saw a need, he acted on it, and didn't let up until it had been remedied. Dad's yieldedness to the Lord's Spirit reflected the way God is.
2. Knowing that God is a moving God, and that Dad, someone who loved change, is now helping us from behind the scenes in the spirit world, we can certainly expect that the Lord will continue to help us to move, grow, progress and change. We believe that the Lord took Dad so he could help us in an even greater way from the halls of Heaven; so he could help usher in the wonderful things the Lord has planned for His Family. Praise the Lord!
3. For the last few years, we have received many reports from Family members pouring out their hearts about their Homes, their personal situations, and the Family as a whole. We have always been concerned about your needs, wants, desires, and problems--and have tried to put forth various publications and changes along the way that we felt would help provide the solutions you were seeking. When again seeking the Lord this year for ways to fill your needs and to solve these problems, He began revealing a plan which we believe will help us progress in ways that will hopefully minimize or eliminate a number of the difficulties our Homes and Family members are presently facing.
An Analysis of Changes in Our History
4. Throughout the history of the Family, we have gone through various changes and revolutions which have caused shifts in our methods and modes of operation. These shifts have generally caused the Family to move in one of two directions, either toward individual freedom for each member and Home, or toward less personal freedom and tighter, more restrictive shepherding of both Homes and individuals. The various times when stricter rules and tighter shepherding were implemented throughout our history were to counteract problems caused by freedoms that were given, and the moves toward greater freedoms were to counteract problems caused through the implementation of tighter controls.
5. In studying the Letters and Family history, it is evident that Dad's desire has always been to allow the Family to operate as freely as possible, to be indigenous--for people to operate according to their own faith and to not be overburdened with a bureaucracy that stifles growth, faith and initiative. On the other hand, it's also evident from the Letters that we are an army, that there does have to be some leadership and a certain amount of shepherding in order to help keep us all united and working together in the same direction.
6. Finding the proper balance between personal initiative and non-hindering leadership has been a challenge. The Family has often had pendulum-like swings from one side to the other, sometimes to the extreme when we went further than we were instructed in the Letters. There have been times when the Family has been loosely structured, with very little leadership and everyone operating according to his own faith. This, in some cases, resulted in every man "going to his own tent" and not doing much for the Lord, or doing things that either reflected negatively on the whole Family or caused serious repercussions, even getting the Family expelled from some countries. This was unfortunate, and was not what Dad had intended when, for example, the RNR was declared. It was an example of some of us going further than we were counseled to in the Letters.
7. The Family has also swung way to the other extreme of being overly restrictive with top-heavy leadership, to where individuals could barely do anything unless they had leadership's specific approval, which bottled up all personal faith and initiative, resulting in a lack of inspiration and people feeling unhappy. Again, this was usually a result of some of us getting off track and not abiding by what Dad had originally instructed us. But we learned from all of these mistakes, as Dad kept pulling us back on track with new revolutions.
The Time for Further Growth
8. People need change. They need to have goals that are eventually reached, followed by new goals to strive for. The Lord is continually bringing forth new direction that helps keep us alive. The pattern seems to have been that every five years or so the Lord reveals a major change of direction that shakes us out of our old ruts. These changes also serve as a test for every Family member, because they must decide if they will continue to follow the new revolutions and new direction the Lord is leading or cling to the old ways.
9. The Lord has clearly shown that it is now time to make the move toward smaller, more independent Homes that can operate according to their own faith without depending upon local leadership, or looking so much to them for direction. We believe that you, the Family, want the change; you're clamoring for it. In fact, the Lord may have even allowed some of the discontent and problems that have arisen in recent months in order to help us overseers and shepherds recognize that He wants some changes made. He is, in a sense, forcing us to make these changes through your bleating. So, praise God, "all things work together for good," even the problems we are presently facing!
10. In looking at our present state of affairs, our attitude should not be, "We have failed! Look how bad our system is!" But rather, "Look how our past system has carried us as far as the Lord wanted it to. It accomplished its purpose and now the Lord wants us to move on to something new." It's not that we've failed; to the contrary, we've succeeded. We've passed the grade and now we must change and move on.
Our Goals in Introducing This Change
11. Throughout the first six months of 1994, the CROs helped Dad and Mama and their teamwork to prayerfully analyze the status of the Homes. After a great deal of praying and studying all the material they sent us, the Lord showed that we need to achieve the following:
A. Move away from our present system of larger Homes that require so much Home and area leadership to operate successfully.
B. Set up a structure which allows all Family members to operate according to their own faith and initiative within the fundamental rules of the Family. You should be able to work in the ministries you want to work in, live in Homes you like to live in, be free to choose where and with whom you live. You should be free from having to wait for leadership to make decisions which you yourselves should be making.
C. Reduce the load of higher level leadership feeling directly responsible for the care and well-being of every person in every Home. Reduce or hopefully eliminate the administrative load of the Area Officers, who will now be known as VSs, so they can concentrate on being loving shepherds instead of business administrators.
D. Get away from the concept that top leadership is expected to make all the decisions, give all the direction, and solve all of the problems. Leadership needs to be free to teach and train, to take time to hear from the Lord and implement what He shows them, instead of being bogged down in the minute details of each individual Home's problems, which drain inspiration and effectiveness.
Place the Responsibility Upon the Individual
12. Just as governments sometimes float their currency so that it finds its real level of strength, so we need to float the faith currency of each individual so we can each find our level of spiritual strength, and then live accordingly. Everyone will be much happier if they live according to their own level of faith and initiative. With time, as people "float their faith" they will find the place of service where they are happiest and most fulfilled, where they can use their gifts and callings to the fullest.
13. As we move closer to the end, it becomes even more important that each of us be free to operate according to our own faith, without constant, direct oversight to ensure that we are on the straight and narrow. In the days to come, it is unlikely that we will be able to live in large Homes and have our leaders tell us what we are supposed to do each day. Every one of us will need to hear from the Lord and follow Him ourselves without others telling us what to do.
14. The next stage of growth the Lord is initiating is for each Family member to mature in their personal walk with Him. Leadership has done all they can to try to help the Family live according to the Word; now it's time to put each individual in the position of being responsible to live it, and also to be responsible for the repercussions if they don't.
15. Leaders can no longer devote so much time to making sure everyone is doing everything they are supposed to be doing. Leaders who visit the Homes need to spend time in loving fellowship with the Home, and shouldn't need to be constantly pointing out all the things they feel the Home is doing wrong. Instead, there should be a very clear standard that we are all responsible to live by, and as long as we meet or stay above that standard, the overseeing leadership should not have to be involved in leading the Home's activities. When they do see problems, the leaders should show from the Word what the Home could be doing to solve their problems, but they shouldn't be expected to solve those problems for them, unless it is truly beyond the capabilities of the Home.
What Is Expected of the Individual, and the Individual Home
16. To help accomplish these goals, the Lord has shown that we need to clearly define what is expected of our DO members and of our DO Homes. These expectations are defined in the Letters, but because they are not compiled into one publication, it makes it difficult to precisely identify them. The Lord also showed us that we need to clearly articulate our Family rules, so that it is clear to all which rules from the Letters we are expected to follow explicitly and which are simply recommendations or guidelines rather than hard-and-fast rules. Each Family member also needs to know what rights we have within the Family.
17. It became evident that in order for the Family to operate more fully according to the Letters, it was going to necessitate condensing all that Dad and Mama have taught into a guidebook. Otherwise it would be too difficult to discern exactly what, of all that Dad and Mama have taught, we are to implement as a Family standard. As the Lord's plan began to unfold, it became clear that we needed to compile a set of governing principles for the Family so that everyone would know clearly what was expected of them. We have therefore compiled documents that set all these principles down in writing; they are "The Charter of Responsibilities and Rights" and "The Fundamental Family Rules," which are combined in one book, known collectively as the Love Charter.
The Need for the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights"
18. We feel that by publishing the Charter, which clearly defines the rights and responsibilities of the individual and of the Home, and clarifies the authority of leaders--both the Home teamwork, as well as area shepherds--it will go a long way in changing things in the Family. Hopefully, it will be a long-term investment, in that the Charter embodies all the necessary governing principles in one document, whereas these principles are presently spread throughout thousands of Letters and other Family publications.
19. If the Family clearly knows they have rights and responsibilities to make decisions in their Home, and that prayerful "majority rule" decisions can and should be the major governing principle, changes will more easily take place--with the Home members bringing this about, not area shepherds needing to be involved or having to give approval for everything, as it now appears is the case to a large degree. Small teams will be more encouraged to step out and pioneer their own Homes when their present Homes reach a certain size, or when the Lord gives them the burden to see a new ministry or area opened, without having to wait for the "bureaucracy" to work out the details. Or, after trying unsuccessfully to change things in their existing Home, and still being dissatisfied with either their Home operation or the people they live with, they can leave and either join another Home or start their own without having to wait for any of their shepherds to get involved. (There are, of course, some built-in safeguards and responsibilities to ensure it's not just "every man doing what is right in his own eyes," and to ensure that Home debts aren't left hanging, etc.)
20. The general idea is to help you govern yourselves, make your own decisions, act according to your own faith and initiative, and to set up an apparatus that allows it to happen, and then ensures that individual Family members' rights stay in place.
21. It is our hope and prayer that with everyone's responsibilities, rights and authority defined, and all of the rules made clear, each one of you will be able to operate according to your own faith and initiative without so much oversight and interference from leadership.
The Background of the Charter
22. The Charter has a two-fold principle: Number one, rights, and number two, responsibilities. The Charter gives individuals certain rights which they can claim. The rights that are embodied in the Charter cannot be taken away from you by leadership.
23. On the other hand, each DO member has responsibilities, and in order to remain a DO member you must fulfill these responsibilities. If you don't, you no longer qualify for DO membership. Because these responsibilities are laid out clearly, a Visiting Servant can refer to these in judging all DO Family members by the same standard.
24. A great deal of time was spent drafting the Charter, trying to make it a document that covers all the necessary aspects of Family life. As each section was completed, it was sent to the CRO teamworks. Every CRO read it, discussed it, prayed about it and sent back their suggestions, ideas, questions, reactions, etc. We received over 250 pages of such responses, and spent weeks reading every word, carefully and prayerfully going over each of their suggestions and comments, incorporating many of them into the second draft of the Charter, which was again sent back to the CRO teamworks.
25. For a full week, each of the CRO teamworks gathered together to further study this second draft of the Charter, which now had their initial suggestions incorporated. In going over the Charter, they further prayed about and discussed additional suggested concepts or wording changes. Several members of Creations and other WS units also methodically studied the Charter and offered their suggestions, which were also a great help. Dad read it at this point in its entirety and Mama went over it three times.
26. But because the Charter is not just a document for leadership but is for every Family member, Dad and Mama wanted to include others during this consultation period when we were formulating the Charter, since they realized that it was to become the governing rules and laws for the whole Family.
27. Immediately after the CROs' second reading of the Charter, we asked each CRO area to convene a meeting with a cross-section of Family members--Home teamwork members, single moms, NASs, YAs and senior teens, teen shepherds, outreachers, parents, childcare experts, etc. Week-long workshop meetings were held in all the CRO areas, during which time the local attendees studied, dissected, prayed about and discussed the Charter. From these two sets of meetings we received approximately 300 more pages of suggestions, comments and corrections. Each suggestion and change was prayed over and considered, and many were incorporated into the Charter.
28. Once all of the CRO and workshop suggestions were prayerfully gone over and decided upon, a third draft of the Charter was prepared. This draft was taken to Summit '95, where all of the CROs were gathered. Each CRO team once again read the Charter and compiled further suggestions. A committee of Gary, a member of each CRO team, and myself spent some weeks prayerfully going over these suggestions and incorporated the appropriate ones.
29. There were a few sections of the Charter that were rather controversial in that there were no clear-cut guidelines from the Letters, as Dad had given very broad counsel on some matters, or had given certain counsel for one situation and different counsel for a similar but differing situation. So we brought these matters before the Lord in prayer, asking Him to speak and to show His will. Then, based on our study of the Letters, our many months of prayerful discussion and counseling with others, and this specific direction from the Lord in prophecy, these sections of the Charter were finalized.
30. During the Summit, the Lord spoke in prophecy a number of times about the Charter and His will concerning it. The Lord began to reveal to all of us the spirit behind the Charter.--That He is moving us in the direction of more love--more love for Him, more love for the lost and more love for one another.
31. It is in this spirit of love that we hope each Family member will receive the Charter. Without love, the sacrificial love of God, the love of Jesus, the Charter is a dead, lifeless body of laws. But if we allow the Lord to breathe His love into us, if we will live in His love, then the Charter will be a vehicle to help us to accomplish His will of loving Him and reaching the world with His love.
32. The Charter is going to bring about a great deal of change that will affect us all. It creates the need for more united prayer, counsel, agreement and cooperation at the Home level. It grants substantially more independence and freedom of choice. It empowers each of us with certain rights within the Family. But all of this can be misused if it is not done in love.
33. The greatest responsibility that each of us has in applying the Charter is to love, to live Jesus' Law of Love, to put the welfare, desires, and needs of others before our own. This will be the test of our willingness to live the Law of Love. Each of us will have to make choices before the Lord as to whether we will use the Charter selfishly, seeking only those things that we feel are best for us, or if we will live as Jesus did, seeking the happiness of others above our own.
Things to Keep in Mind When Studying the Charter
34. In reading the Charter, you may reflect back on situations that were handled differently than they will be in the future. You may feel that some leader made a decision which affected you that is not in line with the way it would be done under the Charter. This could cause you to feel some resentfulness or bitterness against that person. It is very important that you see this as a "new day," that "old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new" (2Corinthians 5:17). You must ask the Lord to help you to love and forgive and to leave those things in the past.
35. We are all headed into new spiritual territory together as the united Family that we are. We are facing new challenges, fresh horizons, and we need to lovingly help each other overcome any obstacles that may be in the way. We are all here because we love Jesus and have dedicated our lives to serving Him. We're in this together, so let's now "lay aside the weights and sins that so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).
36. Although the Charter is officially titled the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights," we must remember that it is a Charter of love, a Charter of dedication, a Charter of unselfishness, a Charter of devotion to the Lord and to all He has poured out to us through Dad and Mama. Please use it as a guidebook to help you to live the Words of David. Use it to help you live God's Law of Love, to love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. May God make you and the Charter a blessing! We love you!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family